Family Ties
by ShadowPhantom14
Summary: Why does he know so much about Aperture Science? GlaDOS calls him the "perfect tester", and when Wheatley shows up, it's time his friends knew the truth. But what truth? What has Sonic been hiding all this time?
1. Like Father, Like Son

**Warning:** This fanfic has major spoilers for Portal 2. If you don't mind spoilers or have completed the game, go ahead and read. If not, I reccomend you finish the game first.

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><p>"Sonic, my radar is picking up something falling from orbit." I looked up from the video game I was playing to tell my little brother, "Probably just a meteorite. They fall all the time. People call them shooting stars." I went back to my video game, but Tails turned the tv off. "This is important Sonic, I need you to pay attention."<p>

Fine, he had me where he wanted me. He was blocking the power button anyhow. "I'm all ears." He smiled. He always liked it when he had me beat. "The radar also picked up some interference, like someone trying to send a signal. Listen."

He walked over to the console and pressed a button. Through a lot of static I heard a voice. A familiar voice. "Hello? C-can anyone hear me? I hope this thing is working. Um, I'm going to fall out of orbit soon. Hopefully somewhere around Aperture. Probably not though. So, if you can hear me, please help. I'm no good at crash landings."

The accent proved my theory of who was falling. It was someone I was going to rescue immediately. There was no way I was going to let him fall and go offline. "Tails, figure out exactly where he's going to land. I'll prep the Tornado."

I ran off to the garage, which connected to the runway. The Tornado was still my plane, but Tails used more often than me. That doesn't mean I don't know how to fly it though. I hopped in the pilot's seat and started the engine, the doors to the runway opening.

Tails ran in and said, "Near the northwest loop in Green Hill Zone. Can I come?" I shook my head no. I hated leaving Tails out of it. I mean, he was my little brother and all, but this was something I had to do alone. It was deeply personal. He'd understand soon enough. "Sorry Tails. Maybe next time."

The Tornado sped across the runway and launched itself into the air. I swerved the joystick controls and made my way to Green Hill as fast as I could. As soon as I arrived at the loop Tails had mentioned, there was something falling out of the sky.

I landed the plane and hopped out, positioning myself to catch it. I did, but on the way down it had been screaming in fright. And I knew that voice better than anyone. I set him down and rolled him over so his optic could see me.

A round robot with handles and a blue eye. That's what he was to strangers. To me, he was everything. "Hi Wheatley." I said calmly, trying not to scare him after such a long fall. "What were you doing in space?"

He looked at me and said happily, "Sonic? Is that really you? Oh god how long has it been? Last I saw you had left the facility. Tell me she didn't kick you out? I mean, she kicked me out, but that's my problem not yours. And you saved me from becoming a pile of scrap metal! Oh, some things never change do they?"

He was right. Some things never change. He was still the motor-mouth I remembered him to be. I smiled. "Okay, in order. Yes it's really me, it's been five years, no she didn't kick me out, and of course I saved you. I'd never let you get hurt. Why were you in space?"

Wheatley turned away a bit, a sign that he was embarrased. I gave him a reassuring smile and said, "It's okay. You know I don't share her opinions." He sighed. "Well, she was still crazy, and I was helping a human girl named Chell escape. You remember that I was in charge of the test subjects? Well, the emergency power ran out so I tried to save them all. Chell was the only one alive enough to save. So we had to kick her off her seat of power. Chell hit the stalemate button and I switched places with her. I went powermad. When she got her spot back she and Chell threw me into space."

He turned back, his optic shrinking as he looked me in the eyes. I knew that look. It was fear, mixed with guilt and shame. I sat down so I was close to his height. "I forgive you. I'll always forgive you." His optic expanded, this time being a look of happiness with some slight doubt. "What about her? I mean, she is the reason you exist."

I stood up and grabbed him, staring him staight in the eye so he would know I was telling the truth. "Wheatley, she is the reason I exist. _You_ are the reason I'm alive. You mean everything to me. You taught me a lot. You raised me. I know I left when I was ten, but that was because I couldn't take any more of mom's insanity. I was gonna come back for you dad. I guess I got distracted for too long."

Wheatley now had a happy expression. "Well then. We've got a lot of catching up to do. How about you take me back to your place and we'll talk more there?" I nodded. "Deal." My place was Tails' spare bedroom, but it was time Tails learned the truth anyway.


	2. Hidden Heritage

I was just about to run back to the workshop when I remembered that I had brought the Tornado for a reason. I plunked Wheatley down in the backseat before I climbed into the front one. I was just about to start the plane when he asked me a question. Well, two questions actually.

"Do you know how to fly this thing and are there any buckles?" he asked, his gaze moving around the seat. I turned around, leaning over the back of my seat and tied the two halves of the seat belt to his handles.

"Yes, I know how to fly this thing. It's my plane after all." I told him. He gave me a surprised look. I responded with a smug smile and started the plane. He started freaking out when we lifted off. Apparently he didn't like heights.

To get the ride over with for him I flew as fast as I could. We got to Tails' place in just under ten minutes. When I landed the plane in the garage Tails was there to greet me. "Did you get the object Sonic? How was it transmitting the signal?" he asked me as I climbed out of the plane.

"I'm more than just a mere object." Wheatley said from the backseat. Tails watched in surprise as I pulled the personality core out and set him on the center table. "Tails, this is Wheatley. We go way back. Wheatley, this is Tails. He's my adopted little brother."

He looked from me to Tails, then back to me. "First you get a plane, then a little brother? I know it's been five years but you really should've kept me updated." Tails looked up at me, his expression full of uncertainty. "Sonic, how exactly do you know him? And what did he mean it's been five years?"

I sighed. Time for the truth to come out. "Can you plug him into the computer? He can keep himself busy while I explain." He nodded and picked up Wheatley, plugging him into the USB port on the main computer in the room.

After he had done that he followed me into my room. I sat down on the bed, Tails sitting next to me. "I never did tell anyone about my past, did I?" my little bro shook his head no, looking eager for a story. As smart as he was, he was still eight deep down.

"Well, it's like this. There's a top secret facility out there called Aperture Laboratories. It's a science place, where people test out a device called a portal gun in a series of puzzle-like test chambers." At this point Tails was looking very intersted. He was probably going to ask me how the portal gun worked, but I continued without letting him get the chance.

"The place is run by an AI named GlaDOS. She had an assistant robot. He was a personality core and took care of all the testers, while she was in charge of the tests themselves. Over the years less humans volunteered for testing." Tails looked confused now, but he wasn't asking questions. He was waiting patiently for answers he knew I would give. That was nice of him.

"So she suggested to her assistant that they create their own tester. Similar to the way Shadow was created, they were going to make the perfect test subject. Her assistant suggested that the tester be small, fast, agile and smart. This would help them get through the tests."

At my description of the tester, Tails began piecing things together. I could tell from the look on his face that he was staring to understand, so I continued with my story. "GlaDOS decided on a format. Sapients were small, and hedgehogs were agile. The speed and smarts they could add later. Her assistant made the hedgehog blue, the same color as his optic to show family resembelence."

Tails looked at me, completely stunned and said, "That tester… was you?" I nodded. "I grew up in the facility. Out of habit I called GlaDOS my mom. The personality core I called dad. Over the years mom went insane and started making the tests deadly. They could kill someone if they weren't careful."

Tails frowned. "What does this have to do with Wheatley?" I couldn't take it anymore. Throughout the whole story I was reliving it in my head, and I finally broke down. Putting my head in my hands I said, "I ran. Ten years and I couldn't take it anymore. I ran and I forgot the one person who raised me. He taught me to be good, to see the silver lining in any situation. When I ran, I left him behind."

A voice came from the living room. "Hey, I forgive you. You said earlier you meant to come back. And now we're together again. Away from her." At the sound of Wheatley's voice I cheered up. For a moment I had forgotten he was out there. I looked at my little brother and said, "Tails, Wheatley is my dad."

Tails had a shocked expression. I had expected as much though. Out of habit, I gave him a silly smile and said something that changed the topic a bit. "And I'd appreciate you giving him a jet booster or something so he can move around. He's gonna be with us for a while."

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

As you can see, each universe is slightly AU to make this work. Wheatley was never GlaDOS' assistant in the games, but he was in charge of the testers. It's been five years since Sonic left Aperture, which means all the Sonic games happened within a span of five years. In the normal Sonic-verse it's been much longer.


	3. Halfway There and Down for the Count

"So, tell me about the human you were trying to save." I was sitting at the table talking to Wheatley. Tails was in the back room working on some sort of propulsion system for the personality core. I had nothing better to do at the moment and it was time we actually caught up with eachother's lives.

Dad had given me a short summary of what happened, but I wanted to know more. A command prompt appeared on the computer monitor. "Um, one moment." Wheatley said, before entering the command 'access memory banks'. A whole slew of file names popped up, and he entered another command. 'File search keywords: Chell, Corruption, Potato Battery, Apology'

I watched as some of the files vanished from the list, leaving only the ones with those keywords somewhere in the file tags. Before Wheatley started playing one of the video files I managed to read the file names. 'The Courtesy Call, The Cold Boot, The Comeback, The Escape, The Switch, The Corruption, The Apology'. Those were some odd names.

The first file started to play. It was from Wheatley's point of view. _There were lots of rooms all stacked rather haphazardly, and the rail Wheatley was moving across split to lead into all of them. He seemingly chose one at random, muttering to himself along the way. "This one better be alive." He said to himself before approaching the door and knocking himself against it. "Hello? Anyone in there? Hello? Are you gonna open the door?"_

_He started rambling about needing the person on the other side to open the door, and that it was urgent. He was about to turn away when the door swung open. A human girl was standing there. She was wearing an orange Aperture jumpsuit and had a pair of white boots on with a metal prong from the cuff serving as the heel. Her skin was dark,as was her hair._

_She gave Wheatley a confused look before he entered the room, going across his rail. "You look terr-uh, good. You look good actually. I'm absolutely sure you're fine. There's plenty of time for you to recover." He said, moving to the end of the rail. The girl looked confused, but she did everything he said. She held on to the wall of closest when he told her to, she tried to speak when he asked her to, she even went into the chamber to find the portal gun simply because he asked her._

The video paused as the girl fell when the glass below her and the stand where the portal gun used to be shattered. Wheatley closed the file and said, "She was the only human who hadn't become a vegetable when the reserve power ran out. She didn't even know me, and she did everything I asked."

I felt a connection right then and there. I had done the same thing most of my life, doing whatever mom told me to do in the test chamber. I remember the deadly test chambers were what caused my fear of water. Toxic water in the chambers. Now I'm scared of any water, even though I know it's not toxic. Just a subconscious fear I guess. "Like me with mom?" I asked, hoping he saw the connection too.

Wheatley nodded. "Exactly. Except I was nicer than she was to you. We became friends. She never spoke, so I only know her name from the jumpsuit she wore." The next file, labeled 'The Cold Boot' started playing. Once again, it was like looking through Wheatley's eyes. Well, eye.

"_Okay, plug me in and I'll turn the lights on." He said. It seemed that he was being held by the portal gun's tractor beam. The girl, now having apparently folded down half her jumpsuit and tied it around her waist to reveal an Aperture tanktop, disengaged the tractor beam and Wheatley fell into the computer._

"_Let there be light. That's God. Was quoting God there." He said as the lights kicked in. _I smiled. He could be so odd at times. Wheatley skipped ahead in the video to a point where mom's body was rebuilding itself. For a moment I thought I would be sick, seeing her head disconnected like that. Yeah, I know she's just a robot and I've seen broken robots before. I break them all the time. But that? Crazy or not, we had a connection. Even though she went insane, to this day I still call her mom.

"_Powerup initiated." said a male voice. Wheatley started freaking out, evident by the camera gaze shifting everywhere very fast. His panicking didn't hurt that assumption either. "Okay, don't panic! I can still stop this! There-there's a password. I just need to hack it."_

Seeing my reaction, dad paused the video. "What?" he asked. I looked at him, a look that he knew well. Confusion, interest, a bit of sadness. "When did mom get so broken?" Wheatley sighed. I knew he didn't like talking about GlaDOS but I had to know.

"Six months after you left. She needed a tester, so she searched the stasis chambers and found Chell. They didn't get along. She tried to burn the girl to death in the last chamber. Instead, Chell found an escape route and made her way to the main chamber. They had an all out battle and Chell won." Wheatley explained.

So the human dad had tried to save, killed mom. Then dad brought mom back, but acted like it was an accident. I had mixed feelings about this, but I didn't voice my opinions. "So, how long a gap until she was rebuilt?"

Wheatley was silent for a moment before saying, "Three and a half years? I think that's about right." I was about to ask just how long he had been in space when an explosion came from the back room. The room Tails had been working in. This was common, so I sat there for a moment waiting for him to call out, 'I'm ok!' like he usually does. He didn't. That's when I got worried.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Yes, I had to shorten the time gap between Portal and Portal 2. In the Portal-verse, it's been about 200 years. But since Sonic left Aperture 5 years ago, and he left just after GlaDOS went insane, and when Portal 1 started she was already insane, that means the events of Portal 1 happened just after he left. Portal 2 just finished, so I had to shorten the gap quite a bit.

The names of Wheatley's files are what I think he would've called the different chapters of Portal 2. No, I didn't give Wheatley a file for chapter 7, The Reunion. This is because he has no idea what happened after Chell fell into the old Aperture, so he wouldn't have a file in his memory banks for it. All he knows is that she fell with PotaDOS (potato battery GlaDOS) and came back up with her a while later.


	4. Homecoming Kings

"Tails!" I got up and ran to the back room, what Tails called his lab. There was no sign of my lil' bro, but there was a huge hole in the wall. Eggman wasn't above kidnapping. Maybe that's what happened?

My assumption was proven wrong when I found a word program open on Tails' spare computer. Someone had typed a note. And since I had run in here after about five seconds of silence, they had to have been fast.

_It's nice to talk to you , not really. You did run away after all. With the human gone, I needed a test subject. Blue and Orange are being used for the Cooporative Testing Initiative, so the normal testing track has no-one._

_You remember that all Aperture equipment has a tracking device? Well, apparently you have come into possesion of that moron. I was going to take him, but he can't test. That leaves only you, and the other person you are living with._

_I sent Blue and Orange out of the facility temporarily so they could bring you back. But then I remembered your skills at running. So instead of having you slip from my grasp once again, I told them to take your friend. I hope this is enough incentive to bring you home. You never should've run away. So much happened while you were gone. I'll get your room ready for you._

Great, just great. How did mom know where I lived? So she tracked dad here. But this could be anyone's house for all she knew! How did she know I was here too? Then it hit me. 'All Aperture equipment has a tracking device'. Did I count as equipment?

"Oy! Everything all right in there?" I heard Wheatley call. I ran back out to the living room and unplugged him from the computer. "No, it's not all right. Mom took Tails." Before he had a chance to say anything I brought him back to the lab and set him on the floor.

I found the unfinished propulsion system and used what Tails had taught me about machines to finish it. While I was attaching it to Wheatley I asked him, "Dad? Does mom think of me as equipment?" He was silent for a moment, as if thinking of how to word his answer.

Then his flashlight turned on, but it wasn't the normal white color that I remembered. It was blue. He shined it on me and said, "This is a blacklight. Look at your arm. No, your other arm."

As always, he was quick to correct me. The light had revealed a barcode down my left arm. It was black, and after a the barcode symbol were the words, Test Subject SP-0001 "Sonic".

Wheatley then turned the blaclight off. "You're not equipment. You are the first, not to mention only, of the SP line of test subjects. However, you do have a tracking device like me. Now can we focus on getting your friend back?" I nodded, attaching the last wire of the propulsion system.

Hopefully I had done a good enough job. "Okay, you've got three jet boosters that all retract. One is on your back below your input jack. The other two are on your sides. You can practice using them while I check on something."

I was known for running headfirst into dangerous situations. But when Tails was in danger, I was going to come up with a plan. "Mom said she was getting my room ready…" I muttered to myself before pulling up a web browser on the computer. Typing in 'www. aperturescience . com' brought me to a familiar website.

A login prompt was blinking, so I typed in a username and password that I had found on a paper in mom's chamber. I had long since lost the paper, but I had memorized the information on it. For the username I entered 'CJOHNSON' The cursor moved down, asking for a password. I typed 'tier3'.

When the command prompt appeared I typed in 'interrogate'. It asked me for an employee name so I entered 'Caroline'. Then I opened up some old recordings I had downloaded before I had run away. I then grabbed Wheatley and plugged him into the computer. "Splice together those recordings. I need her to think her boss is talking to her. Can you do that? On the spot when she answers?

He nodded, and I heard mom's voice come through the speakers. "You can't be interrogating me. You're dead." So the interrogation command brought up voice chat with the chosen employee. Cool. Wheatley spun his frame clockwise and a male voice that wasn't his responded, "That's dead, sir. We may be very good friends but I am still your boss."

GlaDOS hesitated a moment before replying, "Yes sir, Mr. Johnson." She sounded dazed though, as if she was mumbling in her sleep. Well she can't sleep but you know what I mean. Wheatley then made Mr. Johnson say, "Good. Now I recently found out that you ran out of test subjects. Is that true?"

Mom still sounded dazed, but her response matched what her note said. "Sort-of, sir. Our last usable human left. We have a male in stasis, but he has a terrible bullet wound in his leg. If I wake him up he will most likely die soon after."

She paused for a moment before continuing, "It appears he also managed to bring a weighted companion cube into his relaxation vault. And sir, I do have a test subject now. A sapient. He's a highly evolved animal, on par with human levels of intelligence"

Wheatley stopped for some reason. If we stopped for too long though she would figure out what was happening. I knocked on his head quietly to get his attention. He got back to the recordings and replied, "Well, just make sure he doesn't get hurt and you can get back to testing. Just wanted to check up on you. Be a good girl, Caroline. Bye."

"Goodbye Mr. Johnson." GlaDOS said before the interrogation command stopped and the voice chat closed. Wheatley gave me an astonished look. "I can't believe it! He's still alive! Well, in eternal stasis mind you, but she didn't actually kill him! I knew she was lying! I just knew it!"

I would've asked him what he meant, but we didn't have time to chat. We'd managed to convince mom to keep Tails safe, but who knew how long that would last. "Get to the plane." I told him, heading to the garage and getting in the pilot's seat.

I heard a few crashes, but when dad came floating in on his new rockets, I could tell how happy he was. He landed in the backseat and started rambling about how amazing it was to go anywhere he wanted without a rail or someone having to hold him. I tied the buckles to his handles like last time and took off.

This time, it was personal. And it was going to be one **weird** family reunion.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

If you've read the Portal 2 comic Lab Rat (available on the Portal 2 website), then you should know who GlaDOS was talking about when she mentioned a wounded man in stasis with a companion cube.

The website and commands Sonic uses are real. The site is now locked and cannot be logged into anymore, but before Portal 2 came out those commands did work. The username and password are found on a wall in the Ratman den in Portal's companion cube chamber.


	5. Self sacrifice

"For as long as I can remember, you've lived on your management rail, which hangs from the ceiling. So, when did you become scared of heights?" I asked Wheatley as we neared Aperture. I could see the wheat field a few miles out.

"Can this thing go any lower?" he asked worriedly. I shook my head, pulling to the left to avoid having to fly through a cloud. "Not until we start to land. If I go any lower now I'll hit something. Can you answer my question?"

For a moment he was silent, and I began to suspect he wasn't going to answer. He proved me wrong though and told me something I hadn't realized. "You try being involuntarily sucked into space. Constantly locked in orbit, fear of losing altitude and falling, becoming a pile of metal on the face of the Earth. It's enough to scare anyone."

I had been in space before, but it was always a voluntary experience. I was never forced into it like he had apparently been. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. I've been up before, but-" I was cut off when Wheatley exclaimed, "What? When? Was this after I was thrown up? Or before?"

I swerved the Tornado to avoid another cloud, thinking and matching up timelines. Wheatley had been in space for a year now. I first met Shadow, when? "It was before you went up. I know that much. Was half the moon missing when you went?"

"Yeah, I was meaning to ask someone about that. Really odd that was." Wheatley said. I could hear him turning in his seat. "Didn't think you'd know anything about it though. But apparently you do! So, what happened?"

What was I supposed to tell him? That one of my friends and part-time rivals blew up half the moon as a demonstration of power while trying to get revenge on the human race for the death of his best friend? "It's a long story. I'd rather the person who did it told you. You'll meet him eventually."

Wheatley was silent again, probably trying to figure out how and/or why I knew said person. Seeing that we had gotten close enough to land, I popped out the landing gear and lowered the plane toward the wheat field.

We made a smooth landing a few meters away from the lone shack in the area, to which Wheatley exclaimed, "Oy! You're a better pilot than I thought! Brilliant landing skills!" I smiled at the compliment and unbuckled him before getting out of the plane.

He followed me over to the shack, still getting used to his new boosters. The door was locked, and I could see no way to get it to open. "It's voice-activated. A spoken password opens it." I could hear dad say from behind me, probably because he noticed that I wasn't moving.

"Then why don't you open it?" I asked him. He'd been GlaDOS' assistant, he should know the password for the door to the surface. He floated up beside me and shook his inner frame left and right, meaning 'no.' "She doesn't like me. Not since she went mad. She never told me the password."

Okay, so we had a bit of a dilemma. But mom was expecting me to come in without help, so she expected me to know the password. But with Tails trapped inside, I didn't have time to play a guessing game! _It's okay Sonic, just think. What would mom use as a password?_

I tried the first thing that came to mind. "Black forest cake." After all, it was the kind of cake that Aperture used to entice the test subjects into completing the testing tracks. To my surprise it actually worked. With a quiet click the door swung open, revealing a transparent tube that housed an equally transparent elevator.

Giving one last look to the beautiful outside world I might never see again, I stepped inside and entered the lift. Wheatley hurried after me, making it in just before the shed door slammed shut and the lift began the ride down.

To be honest, I was scared. Only two things in life actually terrified me. The first was water. Stemmed from a fear of the toxic water in the test chambers, any water now activates that subconscious fear. The other fear my friends assumed, was getting on the bad side of Amy's hammer. Although this does frighten me a bit as she can be very aggressive when provoked, it doesn't terrify me.

My true second fear was my creator. Getting on her bad side meant death by neurotoxin, without even so much as a 'goodbye'. She was ruthless, insane and immoral, with a bad habit of killing people whenever she felt like it.

There was a click and the elevator stopped and opened. Beyond me was a very large room, even by human standards. In the middle hanging from the celing was my mother. GlaDOS turned to face me, sending shivers down my spine. Not only was she frightening, she was huge. Well actually I was considered small, but same difference.

"Welcome home. I was just checking up on your friend. He's quite good at the puzzles, but sometimes he cheats." She said, sounding perfectly sane. I knew it was just a façade though. One that she couldn't keep up forever.

I stepped out of the elevator and walked up to her, rage replacing fear. "I wish I could say it's good to be back, but that would be a lie. Where is Tails?" When she didn't answer I considered spindashing her eye to get her attention, although it would most likely be the death of me.

Then I realized she hadn't answered because she was looking at something behind me. Wheatley. Not good. She leaned her head forward a bit to go past me, invading dad's personal space. "I'm glad you came back. Now I can finally give you that punishment. Ten years in the incinerator, ten years in the cryogenic freezer, then I crush you until you die."

"Yeah, too bad that's not gonna happen." I retorted. I walked over to the other side of the room and glanced at the floor. I could see a small circle, which meant a rocket sentry was hiding in the floor there. I looked up at the celing and saw small vents everywhere. Neurotoxin emitters.

"Release Tails." She glared at me, her voice full of contempt as she said, "On one condition. You replace him." I had two choices. Replace Tails as a test subject, or leave now and leave him to die in the chambers. Okay, so I only had one choice really.

"Deal." Dad's optic was as wide a possible, showing his shock and surprise. "What?" he exclaimed. I had known something like this was going to happen. "But only if Wheatley goes free." It was a risky move, but I knew mom wanted me more than Tails.

She nodded relucntantly and opened the door. A blue robot came in, its body reminding me of dad. On its frame was written 'ATLAS'. I whispered something to dad before I was ushered out of the room by the bot. "Find Shadow." He looked confused, but before I could tell him that Tails would help, the door shut behind me. Goodbye world, hello prison.


	6. History Repeats Itself

In my life I have learned that there are two types of prisons. One is physcial. An actual cell, or a building you can't leave. Something like that. I've seen them a lot. They don't bother me because I can usually break in and out easily.

The other type of prison is mental. One of the mind. It's a prison you make for yourself out of bad memories and deep-rooted fears. Nightmares that you hope to Chaos will never come true. Things that you want to lock away in a chest and bury somewhere you'll never find again.

I was currently trapped in the second kind. It was partially the first kind too, but if my mind would just let me take control again, I would be able to escape easily. Break some cameras, hack the elevator controls, ect.

But I wasn't in control. My mother was, along with my memories and fears. I knew this would happen. Once I had set foot in that test chamber, ten years I had buried resurfaced. Fears I had thought long gone took control of my mind, and years of conditioning for loyal service wouldn't go away.

It's like watching a movie of yourself, but through your own eyes. You're still doing whatever you're doing on-screen, but you have no say in the matter. I heard Glados' voice come from somewhere in the room. To my surprise she actually sounded worried. That was new.

"Have you really forgotten how to do these tests? This is the fifth chamber since you got back. You're taking longer each time." She said. Ignoring the camera on the wall behind me, I sat down on the white tiled floor. Now she spoke up again, but she sounded agitated this time.

"I know you know how to work the portal gun. Don't make me start up the neurotoxin as motivation. I need you alive. No Blue, you can't just-" she cut off there, probably switching speaker channels to wherever the co-op bots were at.

The camera drooped into the 'off' position and I finally regained control of myself. I quickly surveyed the room to find the solution, when I noticed the floor drop off suddenly. Looking over the edge I found that I did not want to fall. Toxic water was everywhere.

Temporarily silencing my aquaphobia, I fired a portal at the wall behind me, and one at a wall on the other side of the gap. I walked through and noticed a few slanted panels, a cube, and a button that if I went to it, I wouldn't be able to get back.

But then I noticed something odd. The slanted panels would fling the cube onto the button, but if I readjusted the exit portal it would be flung into a room high on the wall. The room was hard to see, but it had a broken window.

Curious, I shot my portals accordingly and jumped through. I was flung into the room, hit the back wall and noticed that I had cut my leg on the glass. Covering the wound, I looked up and saw that it was an old maintanence room. A circuit breaker was on one wall, the others lined with copper pipes.

But there was one thing that didn't belong. Writing on one of the walls. Well, more like a drawing. There were some phases of the moon in a semicircle at the top, and underneath were some arms and music notes. The only words were 'smooth jazz fails'.

Whoever drew it was right. I remember one of the chambers I had done when I was younger had smooth jazz playing in the background. Mom had thought it annoying and cut it off. And now I was remembering random things that apparently I hadn't forgotten like I thought. Was this a side effect of being alone for so long with a crazy person?

How long had I been back in the facility now anyway? This was my fifth chamber, but my sense of time was so off. I could've been here for a month now for all I knew. Maybe even longer. I stood up and tried to balance myself against one of the pipes, but my injured leg slipped out from under me and I collapsed. I lost my grip on the portal gun and slipped on it, falling out of the room.

Below me was toxic water, and an aerial faithplate out of my reach. I grabbed the portal gun on my way down and tried to save myself, but I didn't see how I could. _Well Sonic, this is where it ends. After all those years of torture you got to experience adventure. You got to live. But was it worth it?_

The sickening green liquid was seconds away from contact with my face when it began to blur. Then there was a bright yellow flash and it turned into a catwalk. What in the world had just happened? I tried to stand up, but again my injured leg prevented that.

A pair of arms from behind me gripped me in something somewhat resembeling a hug as they pulled me up. I recognized the cuffs on those gloves. "Shadow?" Okay, now I remembered. I had told Wheatley to get Shadow. But why him? Why hadn't I asked him to get someone else?

"Chaos above, you actually came?" I asked as he spun me around to face him. As usual, he showed no clear emotion. He looked behind him and said, "Everybody hold on again." I could see a yellow arm grab a black grip on a silver handle. Then my vision started blurring again.

Now I remembered why I had told dad to get Shadow. "Chaos Control!" The blurriness turned into another yellow flash before it faded into familiar skyscrapers and the entrance to a train station. Glancing behind me I saw an elevator that said 'Twinkle Park'. Man, I hadn't been to Station Square in a while. Not since the repairs after the flood that Chaos caused.

Noticing an odd feeling in my hand, I looked down to realize I still had a grip on the portal gun. Well that was cool. Now Tails could examine it all he wanted, and maybe I could use it against Eggman somehow. That would be nice.

"Care to explain?" Shadow asked. Tails ran off into the station and came back a moment later with some bandages. He began wrapping the cut on my leg when Shadow started talking again. "This robot showed up with your friend and started yammering on about how his son was trapped by a madwoman."

His son? I was the one who acknowledged our relationship, not Wheatley. But he had actually called me his son? Tails finished with the bandage and smiled at me. "It wasn't easy to find Shadow, but we came. I'm really glad you're okay!"

The next thing I knew he was practically tackling me with a hug. I hugged him back and ruffled his bangs. Then when he let go a metal ball slammed into me ranting about how he was so happy to see me alive. Shadow gave me a confused look and asked, "So the robot thinks you're its son? Does it have its circuits fried?"

I held Wheatley in my arms and looked up at Shadow. "First, thanks for saving my life, faker. I owe you one." I think I saw a hint of a hint of a smile at the word 'faker'. At one time it had been the worst of insults. Now, it was a friendly term between us to show that we still cared, even if we found eachother annoying.

"Second, the robot has a name an AI. Like Omega. He's a good friend." Wheatley flew up to Shadow's eye level and introduced himself. "Oy, I never did tell you my name did I? Stupid me, forgetting my manners. A friend of Sonic's is a friend of mine. I'm Wheatley."

My doppleganger frowned for a moment before stating a fact, then asking a question. "I just noticed, he's British." I couldn't help but laughing. Most robots had an American accent for some reason. Wheatley was British, and it surprised most people. "But why does he think you two are related?"

I gave Shadow a look that he knew meant I would explain later. For now I stood up, albeit somewhat unbalanced. I leaned against a lamppost and ignored some odd stares from a group of passing humans. They were used to sapients as a part of the population, so they had probably been staring because of two unusal things; the portal device on my right hand and Wheatley floating beside me.

One human in particular though refused to stop staring. She wasn't part of the group that had walked by. She was sitting on a bench by the dock wearing a white tanktop and jeans, some odd wrappings around her wrists. She was dark-skinned and her black hair was done up in a ponytail. The ice-cream she had been eating was now on the pavement, but the cone was still in her hand.

She looked oddly familiar, as if I had seen her before, but perhaps in a different outfit. Shadow mentioned that he had to go now, something about a GUN mission in a few minutes, so I absently told him goodbye. There was a flash behind me, meaning he had teleported again.

Tails followed my gaze, probably curious as to why the human and I were staring at eachother. Looking more closely at where her eyes were following, I realized she was looking back and forth between my portal gun and Wheatley. She never moved her head though, only her eyes. I tapped dad's top handle to get his attention, then pointed to the girl.

Wheatley floated there for a moment in stunned silence before whispering the girl's name in surprise. "Chell?"


	7. Not Quite Nostalgia

"That's her? The girl you tried to save?" I asked Wheatley. If I imagined those jeans as the bottom half of an orange jumpsuit, I recognized her as the girl from the recordings. She hadn't spoken in those recordings though. Was she mute? I was hoping I could have a conversation with another test subject, but now I wasn't so sure.

Wheatley flew behind me, as if he was hiding from her. "And the one I tried to kill. Oh, what am I gonna say? I practiced my apology all year. Even with Space Core bugging the crap out of me I managed to come up with a good one." He came out from behind me and looked at the sidewalk below him. "But now, I don't think anything can make up for what I did."

I handed Tails the portal gun and told him to wait there. Family helped family, and I was going to help dad make a good apology. I grabbed him by his handles and dragged him through the air over to Chell. I noticed that as I got closer she seemed more agitated. I stopped a few feet away and let go of Whealtey.

Chell stared at me, curious. Had she never met a sapient before? She then turned to Wheatley with an angry look on her face. Her expression showed anger, but her eyes held sadness, possibly even regret.

I looked from robot to human before saying, "Hi. I'm Sonic. Wheatley here is a good friend of mine, and I think he's been wanting to say something to you. He said he practiced it all year." I elbowed dad's side so he would know to start talking.

The girl's expression didn't change as Wheatley began his apology. "We went through a lot together back at the facility. I helped you get all the way to her chamber. We were about to escape, to finally reach freedom."

His voice wavered and I could see him shut his eye. If he was human, he probably would've been crying. "I betrayed your trust. I want to blame it on the code. Her programming was corrupt and that caused me to go powermad like she did. I want to say that's all it was, but it wasn't. I know that now."

What? Dad had told me that was the reason. He hadn't said there was more to it than that. I was confused, but I stayed silent. Chell's expression had finally changed. Now she looked sad and confused, as if she felt bad but didn't know what to believe.

"I was being selfish. I knew you wanted your freedom, but I had finally been put in charge. I apologize. I didn't mean to make you fall down that elevator shaft. As for trying to kill you, that truly was the corrupt programming."

Chell put her ice cream cone on the bench beside her and leaned back, crossing her arms. She looked like she expected more. I thought his apology was good enough already, but I had known Wheatley longer than she had. I was more willing to forgive him.

He opened his optic, but it was squinted. It was like he was peeking up at her, begging for forgiveness he thought wouldn't come. It reminded me so much of when Tails first told me how he had been teased and abused by his peers before he met me. He hadn't deserved it.

"I wish I could take it all back, I honestly do. I honeslty do wish I could take it all back. I just want to say, I'm sorry. Sincerely. I am sorry I was bossy, and monsterous. And… I am genuinely sorry. The end." He looked away, hurt. From the way he was acting I could tell he expected her to hate him.

But that's not what happened. Chell stood up, wiped some ice cream off her jeans and looked over at Wheatley. She pushed him so that he tumbled backwards out of her reach, but then she leaped forward and grabbed him, pulling him back.

I had no idea why she did that, but apparently dad did. He said quietly in an a surprised tone, "Grab me, grab me, grab me. You… You actually tried? You didn't mean to let go?" She shook her head no, and finally spoke.

She let dad go and said, "Friendship, betrayal. Forgiveness." So she wasn't mute after all. Wheatley looked shocked. She had accepted his apology, and he hadn't been prepared for that. She gave him a skeptical look and continued, "Trust rebuilds. Time."

She had an odd speech pattern. She talked in choppy sentences, as if she had once known how to speak normally, but years of not doing it had affected her. She got her point across well enough though.

I smiled. "I'm glad this went well. Dad was really nervous." Chell then turned to me and gave me a confused look. Crap, I had called him dad in front of her. "Uh, long story. Aperture test subject SP-0001 at your service."

I could hear a familiar voice behind me, and it wasn't Tails'. In fact, it wasn't really behind me either. It was coming from the sky, and over a loudspeaker. "Attention Station Square!" Eggman was going to attack the city. He was still talking, but I had stopped listening.

I gestured for Tails to come over, and when he did I took the portal gun back and tossed it to Chell. "Hold this for me, will ya? Oh, and watch him." For that last sentence I pointed my thumb at Wheatley before grabbing Tails' hand. "All right lil' bro. Up we go."

He knew the drill. Anytime the Egg Carrier was overhead he would fly me up there and I would do the rest. I was actually happy this was happening. Usually I would give anything to have a break from this, but after all that had happened today I was glad to be back in my element. Sonic the Hedgehog, hero of Earth.

I had two sides to my personality, but my friends only saw one. A caring person who would do anything for his friends. Someone who hates even the thought of injustice, and is extremely cocky and arrogant when in battle.

The other side was one that I had hidden for ten years. A victim. Raised by two robots, one of whom thought of me as nothing more than an experiment to be tested. A child who was scared of his own mother, always frightened for his life until his dad came to comfort him.

Tails landed me on the outside of the Egg Carrier and smiled. "Just like old times, Sonic?" I nodded. It was both a statement about how much this reminded him of our old adventures, and a code that meant to use our usual strategy. "Just like old times." He used his tails like propellors on a motorboat and sped off across the hull of the ship.

I chased after him until we found a way inside. Then we split up, Tails heading for the engine room and me for the sky deck, which led to the cockpit. He would disable the engines so the ship would be forced to make an emergency landing, while I took care of Eggman.

Eggman must've rebuilt the original Egg Carrier, because the sky deck was exactly the way I remembered it from the Chaos incident. Running through it brought back memories, but this time they were good memories. Unlike the ones running through Aperture had given me.

I spotted Dr. Eggman in his gigantic chair, still shouting over the loudspeaker. Something about a pesky hedgehog not getting in his way this time. Man, if only he knew how wrong he was. I stood behind the chair so he couldn't see me and decided to see if I could scare him.

"So, when did my name become 'pesky hedgehog'? I thought we were on first name terms, Ivo." I said with a smirk. As I expected, he nearly jumped a foot in the air before scrambling out of his chair and searching for me.

Wherever he turned, I was behind him. "I gotta hand it to ya Eggy, if I didn't know that your first Egg Carrier had a horrible crash I would've thought this was the same one. How did you afford to make this?"

I finally stopped moving so when the Doctor turned around he would see me. He did, and I could tell he was angry. "How do you afford to make any of the things you do? That amusement park in space must've cost a fortune."

Eggman's expression changed to one of amusement. That was one thing we had in common; in battle we both put on an act of bravado. The difference was that mine was real. "That is none of your business, Sonic."

I laughed. "See? I told you we were on first name terms." I was about to continue talking when something crashed through the windshield. It was metal and round, and I mentally groaned. Turning to the object, I put on my best scolding voice.

"I thought I told Chell to watch you. You're not supposed to be here, Wheatley!" Eggman seized his chance at a hostage and grabbed him. "I see you know him. Well, if you want him to remain functioning you will do as I say."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<br>**The last part of Wheatley's apology is taken straight from the end of the game. It was so sweet and sincere that I didn't want to change it.

Valve has said that Chell can speak, she just doesn't want to give GlaDOS/corrupted Wheatley the satisfaction of a response. I imagined after so many years of not using her voice, her speech pattern would be a little odd, and her sentences a bit choppy.


	8. Love Conquers All

There are lots of descriptive words in the English language, but none of them really describes what happened better than 'chaotic'. In all my time with being a hero and saving the day, I've seen lots of crazy things.

I've seen the planet become a jigsaw puzzle, an amusement park in space, half the moon get blown up, a water monster flood a city, and an alien invasion. I'm lucky I'm still sane. And yet, even when things get really crazy, some things will never change.

"My god, you're enormous! Seriously! And GlaDOS thought Chell was 'round'. Dear god-ahh!" My dad was off ranting as usual, this time about Eggman's size. But the madman had done something I hadn't expected. He had smashed Wheatley against a wall. **Hard**.

"Dad!" I screamed, kicking Robotnik in the stomach. He dropped Wheatley, and the bot was lucky I had such quick reflexes. I managed to catch him just as Tails ran into me shouting about the engines going offline in a minute.

At least he had done his job. The Doctor was leaning on the dash console for support, his other hand over his stomach where a footprint was now visible. I smiled and held Wheatley tighter. Oh boy was he damaged.

I mean, he had been damaged when I had first found him. Back then it had been a few scratches, dents and a crack down his eye. Now it was all that times ten. The dents had become holes, the scratches had multiplied and his eye had a spiderweb pattern.

Not to mention his bottom handle was split in two, one of the rocket boosters was shattered and he was leaking some sort of fluid from his sides. "You're gonna be okay. I promise." I screamed something at Tails, but I don't remember what I said.

Apparently it had been something about getting off the ship. My gloves were getting stained by whatever dad was leaking, but I held him tight as Tails grabbed my arm and ran. The escape was a blur. I don't remember much of it.

A tight grip on both my family members, a leap from something and a slow descent. That's all I know. Once we had somehow gotten back to the ground Tails looked at Wheatley and said, "I don't have the materials to fix damage that bad."

Even in the face of imminent death, I never give up. Even if it's not my death I'm worried about. I mentally ran through my list of friends, trying to figure out who was good at fixing robots. Other than Tails, none came to mind.

I was running out of time. I looked up at the sky, hoping maybe whatever forces were in control would give me something I could use. Instead I saw the ARK. And that was more help than I needed. I grabbed Tails' hand again, held dad in my lap and did something I had only done once before.

I have summoned the Chaos Emeralds many times. It used to be whenever I needed them I had to search for them and store them in subspace. Amy calls it hammerspace, but that's just because she keeps her hammer there.

Tails once suggested calling it the Chaos Dimension, which I thought was a cool name. But for the sake of conversation subspace is shorter. Now I don't have to search for them. They're always in subspace. All seven of them, just waiting to answer my call.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. I could feel the power flowing through me, and then it escaped to the air around me. Tails gasped. He had never actually seen me do this. Next was the thing I had only done once.

I had learned it from watching Shadow do it the first time we met. In fact the one time I had done it I had used a fake emerald. I'm not quite sure what Shadow thought when I told him that, but he had seemed astonished, as if I had done the impossible. Apparently I was special in more ways than one.

Now, I was about to do it again. Except this time I had seven emeralds instead of one, and all of them were real. "**Chaos Control!**" I kept my eyes shut as the power surrounded me, flowed through me again, and made me very dizzy.

There is a reason I don't use my chaos abilities. They make my head hurt. Sure I can pull off the impossible, but it's painful doing it. I don't even know why I have these powers. Surely mom and dad didn't intend for it. They don't know about the Chaos Emeralds.

Only Shadow and me have chaos powers. Then my train of thought pulled into a station I didn't know was there. Were these powers a side effect of being genetically engineered? Only Shadow and I had them, and we were both created like that. I made a mental note to ask him about that later.

When I opened my eyes we were in the main room of the ARK, with the huge panoramic viewport."This place should have the right stuff to fix him." I told my little brother. He gave me a sad look and nodded. Before he ran off to find some tools I told him something else. Something he probably hadn't considered.

"Tails, you're my brother. Wheatley is my dad. That makes him your dad too. Please help him." Tails said nothing as he left the room, but I could tell he was thinking about what I had said. I looked down at dad and noticed the blue light in his eye was fading.

"Come on dad, you can make it! Your son needs you to make it!" His top handle twitched a little but that was all. Were those footsteps? They didn't sound like Tails' shoes. There were footsteps, then some quiet jets kicked in.

Shadow's skates. So he was home. "Shadow?" I called, hoping he would hear me. The jets got louder until I could see the familiar white, black and red shoes in front of me. I looked up and smiled. "Sorry to barge in without knocking, but only the station had what we needed."

He sat down in front of me without saying a word. He looked from me to Wheatley, then back to me. "Aren't you going to fix him?" I tightened my grip on him and replied, "Tails is getting the right tools. And here he comes now."

Tails was running down the hallway, arms full of what looked like junk. I knew it was important, but I couldn't tell what any of it was. My little brother came to a halt beside Shadow, dropped the stuff, picked up something from the pile and looked at me.

I slid dad over to him and watched for a second as Tails started poking and prodding at him. Just like when I saw mom's broken body, I started feeling sick. I turned and walked down the hall. Tails would fix him up and then call me back.

What I didn't expect was Shadow following me and actually engaging in conversation. "You're expression last time we ran into eachother meant you would explain later. Now is a good time." I looked up at him, finally realizing what he had gone through.

Maria had died in front of him, and there was nothing he could do. Now Wheatley was dying, and there was nothing I could do. Yes, I knew Tails was a mechanical genius, but Aperture equipment was more advanced than anything he had ever fixed. All I had was hope.

"We have more in common than you think. That robot is the closest thing I've ever had to a father." Shadow gave me a strange look, so I explained. "You and I were created by outside hands. That place you rescued me from? The crazy robot in charge is my creator. Wheatley raised me though."

We were still walking, but we had turned a corner now. Shadow grabbed my hand and led me on until we reached the door to a bedroom. "Shadow, why are you taking me here?" He didn't answer. Instead he looked at a panel on the wall next to the door.

It scanned his eyes and the display read 'Project Shadow – Admittance granted'. The door opened and inside was blue. Literally. Everything in the bedroom was blue. The wallpaper, the bed, the dresser, even the photo album on the bedside table.

The album was open to a picture of Maria and Shadow at Christmas. I didn't understand why he had brought me here until he spoke. "You still have a family. You're lucky. Do what I couldn't do, Sonic. Save your loved ones."

I think I saw him smile. If I wasn't dreaming or going crazy, he actually smiled. "You can do it, Faker. Hmm, now I know why you called me that." He turned off the light and we exited the room together, the door sliding shut behind us. "There is always something worth fighting for." he said.

"Sonic!" I heard Tails' voice call. "Come here!" Now was the moment of truth. Had he saved Wheatley, or was my father gone? I ran down the hall as fast as I could, Shadow staying behind. I skidded to a halt in front of Tails, extremely nervous and worried.

My little brother stepped aside to reveal… a fixed personality sphere. Except for the eye. It no longer had a spiderweb pattern, but it wasn't completely fixed. It was back to the long crack it had before.

"Thank you Tails." He smiled, and I gave him the biggest hug I had ever given. "Why didn't you fix his eye though?" I asked after I had let go. Tails shrugged. "He powered on for a few seconds and said 'Leave the scar. It's a reminder' so I did." I turned to Wheatley and kneeled down. "Dad?" There was a small flash of blue light, and his eye turned back on.

He blinked several times and looked at me, confused. "Ooh, am I okay? That fat man slammed me against a wall, then the fox here was shoving a blowtorch in my side. What happened in the middle?" I didn't answer. I just laughed. I couldn't help myself.

No matter what happens, we'll always pull through. If you believe in yourself, you can do the impossible. From the corner of my eye I could see Shadow give me a faint smile before going back down the hall and vanishing.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>I know this chapter didn't move the plot along really, but I had been planning to write this since I started the fic. This shows just how close Sonic is to Wheatley, and how similar he is to Shadow. Fate is a strange thing. Just a location or a time can create the biggest differences in the people who share more than they'll ever know.


	9. A Space Oddessy

**THUNK.**

Okay, in an orbiting space colony, a sound like that is never a good sign. Tails looked really worried, and Wheatley seemed confused. "Stay here." I told them, running off down the hall after Shadow.

Then I stopped. I was gonna have to apologize to Tails later. He was my little brother, but ever since dad came back I'd been leaving him out of everything. No, forget the apology. I was gonna fix it here and now. "Tails! Follow me! Leave Wheatley!" I called back down the hall. I could hear his namesakes swishing as he ran.

I'd explain to dad later. Hopefully we could soon become a three-person team without one of them feeling left out. Plus whatever it was that hit the station might've caused a hull breach. Tails and I would be fine, but I didn't want dad to get stranded there again. Not after what he had told me on the way to Aperture.

We found Shadow at an airlock, ear to the metal. Tails ran up to him, curious what he was listening for. Shadow pushed him back and said, "The ARK is in geosynchronous orbit, on a different path than Earth's satellites. Yet something managed to hit us."

He pulled off his left glove, placed his hand on a scanner near the airlock and waited. After a few seconds a computerized voice said, "Project Shadow. Clearance granted." He put his glove back on, muttered something about an inhibitor ring always being in the way, and punched a button in the center of the airlock.

Tails trembled a bit. "Whatever hit us… You're letting it in?" he asked as the doors slid open. A rush of air left the station, threatening to pull everyone out with it. I grabbed Tails by the wrist and ran backwards. I didn't actually go anywhere, but it kept us both from being sucked out.

Shadow on the other hand jumped out into space. Tails tightened his grip so I grabbed him by both arms this time. Then he started spinning his tails to push us back, the same reason I was running. We still didn't move.

Then, just as the wind was beginning to win, it stopped. The doors had been shut, and Shadow now stood there with something in his hands. Tails and I shot backwards down the hallway and slammed into a wall.

It took us a minute to clear our heads (Tails still seemed a bit dizzy though) before we went back to Shadow. He dropped what he had been holding on the floor. "Looks familiar, doesn't it Sonic?" I looked down at it, wondering what he meant.

It was a personality core, just like dad. It was silent though. Was it broken? My suspicions were shattered when it let out a piercing scream. "**SPACE!**" I covered my ears and fell to my knees, Shadow and Tails doing the same.

Finally the scream stopped. Dad had mentioned Space Core being stuck in orbit with him, but he'd never mentioned the core being corrupt. He must've gone insane after I left, because when I was still there he was normal. Well, as normal an Aperture AI can get. I first met him when I was seven.

_I was sitting on the bed in my relaxation vault flipping through TV channels. There was never anything good on, but I always checked. There was a knock at my door, so I put the remote down and got off the bed to answer it._

_Dad was at the door, swinging from his rail nervously. Wheatley was never nervous without a good reason. "Do I need to get the portal gun?" I asked him, worried that mom wanted more testing from me today._

"_No. It's not that. Apparently she's willing to let you out of your vault for a few hours. I thought we'd go meet some of the other cores. What do you say, Sonic?" I smiled and nodded. This was a chance that might never come again. _

_Dad made a beeping noise and a glass elevator came up on the rail behind him. I stepped in and shut the door. Before long we were in what dad called a 'break room'. He said employees used to hang out here. I never questioned the lack of personnel._

_Three other cores were there, each on their own rails. I got out of the lift and stepped into the room, excited to meet them. The one with the green optic introduced himself as 'Rick – The fearless adventure sphere'. _

_I assumed the pink one was a girl, but I was wrong. That one didn't have a name, it just called itself 'Fact Core' and claimed to know everything about anything. The third core had a yellow optic and was very enthusiastic about space._

"_Hi there! I'm Space Core! Anything you need to know about space I can tell you! Space is wonderful! I wanna go there someday! Do you know what our galaxy is called? I do! Do you know how many planets are in the solar system? I do! Do you know-"_

_I stopped listening after that, focusing more on Rick's story about how he saved a beautiful young lady from savages. I didn't believe it, but it made me wonder if I would ever meet a girl who would like me. _

_Then Space Core got my attention again by mentioning that Earth had the only known life in the universe. That made me smile. I the only organic being in the whole facility. Now I had just been told that the outside world I wanted so badly to see was the only life in the whole universe. My world was just as lonely as me._

"Are you trying to burst my eardrums?" Shadow shouted, still holding his ears. Mine twitched when he shouted. "Don't yell. My ears have had enough for today." I looked over at Tails to check on him, only to find that he was staring at the window in the hall. "I'm surprised he didn't break the glass."

"Well I'm **not** surprised that Shadow's temper got the better of him." Said hedgehog was now holding Space Core against the wall, arguing with it. He was getting nowhere. All it kept saying was nonsense.

"Space! Space! Am I still in space? I wanna stay in space! Take me back to space!" I grabbed Shadow's arm before he could shatter the core's optic. "Would you beat up Omega if he malfunctioned?" I knew Shadow had a soft spot for robots, I just needed to find it.

"No." He lowered Space Core to the floor, but glared at it anyway. "I'll be right back." I ran off down the hall to where Wheatley had been left. He looked upset. "Am I not important enough to be in your life anymore?"

I apologized for leaving him and told him to follow. When he asked how I had to remind him of his boosters. When we arrived back at the airlock Tails was having a conversation with the core. "No, it's impossible for space to be someone's father." He said.

"Wheatley, I'd like you to get acquainted with the new arrival." Dad didn't look pleased to say the least. Shadow didn't seem pleased either. "Please do something about this robot before I murder it. It's driving me crazy!"

Tails crossed his arms. "Shadow, it's just having some problems. You don't need to kill it." he scolded. Tails was right. "Plus if you do, it might scream again. Nobody needs that." I added. A ringing noise came from back down the hall.

Shadow was there in a flash, probably wondering what else had disturbed his space station. Wheatley, Tails and I followed, my little brother carrying Space Core. The ringing was coming from a brown satchel near a pile of tools.

"Oh, that's mine." Tails said, picking up the bag. He rifled through it until he found the source of the sound. It looked like a really advanced watch. "Apparently the reminder function is trying to tell us something. Let me see…"

Hopefully it was good news. I did not need any more crazy stuff today. "Well?" I asked him. There was a pause before, "Got it. Sonic, you have a date with Amy in five minutes."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

It was really fun to write Space Core's dialogue. It was also really fun to write the scene with the airlock. The story needed more humor, so when the airlock shut again I figured it would be funny of Sonic and Tails didn't realize it soon enough and kept going backwards.

Portal fans will know what Tails means when he corrects Space Core about his father.


	10. Prisoners of War

"Aw, crap." I had totally forgotten about the date. I'd promised to take Amy to dinner. Wait, our date wasn't supposed to happen for a week. Had I really been in the facility for an entire week? It took them that long to find Shadow and rescue me?

I was shaken out of my thoughts by Tails' voice. "There aren't many ways off the ARK. We either use Chaos Control to go back to Earth, or we jump out and fall through the atmosphere. Considering that's what caused Shadow's amnesia, I suggest the first option."

Tails was right. Chaos Control was the only way off the station. "Yeah. I'll get Shadow. Watch dad and Space Core for me. And make sure Space Core stays quiet." I sprinted down the corridor Shadow had left through. No sign of him.

I didn't want to be late, but I also needed Shadow. Compromising with myself, I made a quick search of the ARK in about ten minutes. Still no sign of Shadow. Tails looked concerned when I came back without him. "You're our exit then." he said.

Getting off the ARK wasn't fun. Let me just say, after doing Chaos Control twice in the span of two hours, my body **hurt. **I haven't hurt that much since I fell onto an aerial faithplate and got catapulted into the ceiling when I was eight.

I remember pulling out the emeralds and performing Chaos Control, then passing out. When I woke up I was in major pain, but I had succeeded. We were back in Station Square. I stood up slowly and heard dad talking to someone. "Well it's a long story. Um, I'm staying with Sonic, but if you'd like to stay with us for a while I'm sure he could make time to explain. You know how bad I am at explanations."

I tried to find who he was talking to, but I couldn't. Not until Tails helped me up and turned me around. Dad was talking to that girl. Chell, I think her name was. And she still had my portal gun from when I had asked her to hold it.

She glanced at me, but her expression was unreadable. I was about to ask her to stay so we could talk, tester to tester, but a familiar voice screamed "SONIC!" and I never got the chance. I think Tails dropped me, but that was okay. He was saving himself from Amy's tacklehug and I understood that.

"Sonic, you're late. You promised we go out for dinner tonight. Why are you always late?" she asked in a tone that was a mix of curiosity, fawning and scolding. I gently pushed her off of me and managed to stand up on my own.

"Amy, I've been through a lot this week. You've gotta cut me some slack. I'm sorry I'm late, but I've had a really hectic day." She didn't seem happy with my excuse. "You always have a hectic day. You always have an excuse. What was so hectic about today? Eggman's attack was only a distraction according to GUN, so it couldn't have been that."

Eggman's attack on the city was a distraction? No wonder he was so easy to beat. I'd have to talk to GUN later. "My excuse this time is that I had a family reunion I was forced to go to. My mother wouldn't let me leave early."

Now that was an expression I rarely saw on Amy. Confusion and shock. She looked like I had just told her the sun was going to explode. She stuttered, trying to say something. I couldn't make any of it out until she finally lost the stutter. "I thought you were an orphan!"

That's just what I had told everyone so they wouldn't ask about my parents. I shook my head. "No, I just ran away from home years ago. My parents recently found me." Amy seemed surprised. Well, that was twice now that I had surprised her. Twice in the same day. That usually didn't happen.

I figured I had best get the introductions over with. She would require an explanation though. I'd have to tell her what I told Tails. Heck, I'd have to tell everyone what I told Tails. One at a time though. Right now it was Amy's turn.

"Amy, I'd like you to meet my dad. His name is Wheatley." I gestured for him to come here, and he floated over until he was beside Amy. "Hello." He said with his usual cheer. "It really is nice getting to meet all of Sonic's friends. I assume you're Amy, correct me if I'm wrong. Usually am wrong mind you, but that doesn't matter. Wonderful to meet you."

Amy's expression had become like Chell's; unreadable. A mix of everything. It took a minute, but one emotion became dominate. Confusion. "How in Chaos is your father a robot?" This was exactly why I hated explanations. "It's a long story. One I'll tell you later. For now you're just gonna have to accept that-"

I was cut off when Rouge dropped out of nowhere, grabbed my arms and began shaking me while talking. Could today get any crazier? "Sonic, this is important. Shadow says you know about Aperture. Is this true?"

Okay… Apparently things can get crazier. I nodded slowly. "What is this about?" She seemed worried. That wasn't good. Normally Rouge had a 'take charge' personality. Now she seemed fearful.

"They're supplying Dr. Eggman with very advanced robots. It hasn't hit the news yet, but Westopolis just took a major beating. They were repairing from the Black Arms invasion so they were weak. A perfect target. You're the only one who knows about Aperture. I just found out from Shadow, who found out from Commander that they were helping Eggman. We need you."

Well. It looked like I was going to have to save the day again. But this time from somewhere I didn't want to return to. But I had no choice. "Sorry Amy, our date will have to wait. Rouge, get Shadow and follow me. Tails, Wheatley, Amy, Chell, your choice."

Rouge spoke into a communicator in her glove. With a flash of yellow light Shadow was standing next to her. He nodded towards me, a sign I took to mean 'let's move'. I nodded back, turned and ran. None of them except Shadow could keep up with me, but I knew they had their ways.

I looked back for a moment to see who was coming with me. Shadow was skating alongside, me, Rouge flying along a half-mile back. Those two were expected. What wasn't expected was that everyone else had come too.

Tails was flying next to Rouge, carrying Amy in his arms. Even further behind them was dad. He wasn't alone, however. Chell was running alongside him holding my portal gun like a weapon ready to fire.

I smiled, turning around and returning my thoughts to the problem at hand. GLaDOS had just started war. Twenty minutes and I had reached the shed with Shadow. Fifteen more minutes and everyone else arrived.

I spoke the password, climbed into the elevator and went down. We had to take separate trips since we couldn't all fit into one lift. Once everyone had arrived the the central AI chamber, mom took notice.

"Sonic, it seems you came back. But with company. That won't do. I'll have to kill them. Then you can get back to test-YOU!" She had cut herself off, taking notice of Chell and Wheatley. "The moron and the lunatic. Teaming up again."

I tried to stop dad, but he said it before I could warn him. "I. Am not. A MORON!" One of mom's remote-control arms swatted him to the side like a bug. "I'll deal with you later." I managed to catch Wheatley, but then mom turned to Chell. "I thought I told you not to come back. You really do have brain damage, don't you?"

While she was talking Tails and Rouge were doing something with a console in the corner. Shadow and Amy both had weapons out, ready to defend themselves at a moment's notice. Mom's tone of voice was the one she used when she was blatantly lying. "I really hate to do this."

Her voice changed to a happy tone as one of her arms slammed into me and knocked me across the room. "But it will buy me some time." This was when I found out she hadn't completely repaired the facility like I thought.

I smacked into a different elevator tube, this one with no lift. I could see straight down, and it went down for miles. I fell. But I didn't fall alone. Several voices called my name, and three people tried to save me.

I clung to a ridge in the solid rock wall and looked up. Tails was flying down, probably hoping to grab me and fly me out. I lost my grip. I fell again, the walls smoothing out. There was nothing to hold on to. Tails stopped flying and let gravity take hold. "I'm not letting you get stuck alone!" I heard him shout.

Something bashed into his head on our way down. A metal ball. "Son! You're gonna be okay! I don't remember where this tube leads, but I know Chell fell down here. She'll lead us out." I noticed two things right then. One was that Chell was also falling. She was risking her life to be our guide back up.

The second thing I noticed was that dad hadn't called me Sonic. He'd called me son. That was the last thought I had before I hit the ground.


	11. One Small Step for Science

For the second time today I woke up in pain. Tails, Wheatley and Chell were standing over me when I opened my eyes. They all seemed a bit worried. I sat up, holding my aching head and looked around.

The remains of an elevator were scatter about, along with a bunch of metal junk in a large puddle. What looked like metal scaffolding was broken and on fire about a yard away. And it seemed that we were in a very large cave. "What is this place?"

Tails shrugged and helped me up. How many times had he helped me stand up now? If he was getting annoyed about it he didn't show it. He was a good kid. Chell wiped some dirt off my portal gun and walked ahead. "Old Aperture. Ahead."

We followed her, although dad seemed rather worried. "A-all sealed off years ago…" he stuttered, looking around and then at Chell. "I'm sorry. I didn't know the shaft went this far down. I didn't mean to break the lift."

I was officially confused. "Old Aperture? What do you mean?" Instead of Chell answering, dad did. He didn't move or have any expressions when he spoke, which meant he was pulling the audio from his memory banks. "This place is huge! And we're only seeing the top layer! It goes down for miles! All sealed off years ago of course!"

I thought I knew my home, but apparently not. I was under the impression that the Aperture I knew is what it had always looked like. I never knew there was more below. We followed Chell as she navigated her way through lots of debris and rounded a few corners.

Along the way there were many more fire pits with metal in them, surrounded by collapsed and broken structures. How old was this place? Chell came to a dead end and we all stopped. "Now what? We're stuck." Tails said.

Chell pointed to a white wall behind a fence. Climbing the fence wasn't an option, as there was a gigantic pipe lying above it. There was no way around the fence either. Tails dad seemed confused. I was too until I saw Chell aim the portal gun at the wall.

White paneling meant you could shoot portals on it. She fired a blue one at it, an orange at another white wall behind us and walked through. Dad followed, but Tails stayed behind. He stuck his hand through, looked at it coming out from behind the fence and pulled his hand back out. "How…?"

I shrugged. I had no clue how the portal gun worked either. "It just does. Let's go." I gently pushed him through and followed after him. Chell used portals several more times to get us through a lot of blocked paths.

Eventually we started walking along a collapsed pillar. Along the sides were signs that read, _Keep Out_ and _Do Not Enter._ I didn't like it. Instinct told me this was the wrong way to go (so did the signs), but Chell just kept walking.

Up ahead was a giant wall with a door. The wall had giant words painted on it in yellow. _Condemned Testing Area. _"In here. Cave Johnson. Tests. Elevators up." Chell said, looking around, probably for a Portal surface. Tails brightened at the mention of elevators. So did Wheatley.

I didn't. My brain had latched onto two of her words. Cave Johnson. If I remembered correctly, he was Aperture's founder. Caroline was his assistant. They were very close friends. Since Caroline was GLaDOS and GLaDOS was my mom, that would technically make Cave my uncle.

The way Chell had said his name made it seem like he was still alive. But he couldn't be. I'd been told that he had died of moon rock poisoning in the 80s. Dad's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "That's a big hole for such a small door."

Door? A quick scan of the surrounding area told me I had followed everyone in here without realizing. Dad was right. That was a big hole for a really tiny door. Chell ran up the steps and pushed the door open, holding it for the rest of us.

I'll cut to the chase. We went through a lot of stuff to get to Cave and the elevators. Massive fallen structures, piles of debris, piles of debris on fire, sparking cables hanging from above, stagnant water and broken doors.

Eventually we came to a large room that had a variation of the Aperture logo hanging from the ceiling. The lights were on, which meant Chell had been through here. We were going the right way. Tails hid behind me when a voice kicked in.

It was male and seemed to be coming from several speakers around the room. "Welcome gentlemen, to Aperture Science. Astronauts, war heroes, Olympians—You're here because we want the best, and you are it. So: Who is ready to make some science?"

I recognized that voice from recordings. That was Cave. So he had made recordings in case anyone showed up when he wasn't here. A female voice replied to Cave's question with, "I am!" I knew that voice too.

That voice almost made cry. Mom, what happened to you? Chell stood there, her body language saying that she was waiting for us to get moving. None of us did. We were all busy listening to Cave talk. Tails had never heard him, I don't know why Wheatley was listening, but I wanted to hear what he had to say. I wanted to get to know him. He was family.

"Now, you've already met one another on the limo ride over, so let me introduce myself. I'm Cave Johnson. I own the place. That eager voice you heard is the lovely Caroline, my assistant. Rest assured-"

I stopped listening when he said Caroline's name. It was too much. I grabbed Tails' hand and pulled him along, gesturing for dad to follow. "Where to?" I asked Chell. She pointed at an office on the second floor of the room.

Tails flew me up and Wheatley used his boosters. It was fun to watch Chell get there. She had a lot of skill with the portal gun. The furnishings in the office told me two things. One, that it wasn't an office. It was a lobby or waiting area of some sort. Two, that Aperture had good taste in furniture at one time.

Tails ran around the lobby like a little kid in a playhouse. I was pretty amazed too. How had all this stuff not turned to dust by now? Tails was examining a chair when Cave's voice came back.

"There's a thousand tests performed every day here in our Enrichment Spheres." Enrichment Spheres? The current Aperture called them Test Chambers. "I can't personally oversee every one of them, so these pre-recorded messages will cover any questions you might have, and respond to any incidents that may occur during the course of your science adventure."

When he started going on about mantis men I stopped listening. I really hoped there weren't any mantis men still living. Dad was talking with Tails over by the chair. I didn't understand half the conversation, but from what I could gather Tails was running theories by Wheatley. Theories about why the furniture was still here and not turned to dust. As usual, dad had no idea.

"Elevator tower." Chell was in an open doorway, pointing beyond. I ran over to where she was, Tails and Wheatley trailing behind. I learned one thing from the sight of elevator tower. It was gonna be a long journey back up.


	12. Interlude: A Tester's First Christmas

**Author's Note:**

This Christmas one-shot is a little look into Sonic's childhood at Aperture. I hope you enjoy it. A regular chapter of the story will be up soon.

* * *

><p>"What is that?" GLaDOS asked, looking at the strange object her newest test subject was setting up in her chamber. It was in the shape of a tree, but there was no green on it whatsoever. It looked to be made out of the white paneling used on the sides of turrets.<p>

The test subject, a little blue hedgehog, looked up at her with a smile. "It's a Christmas tree. Fact Core told me all about Christmas, so I thought we should celebrate. I couldn't find any trees though, so I had to use what I could. Turret scraps. Do you like it?"

"I love it." said a male voice with a British accent. A blue core rode in on a management rail and looked at the odd tree. "Good use of the broken turrets. Never would've thought of that." GLaDOS rolled her eye. She didn't need that abomination of a sculpture in her chamber.

"Really?" The hedgehog asked the core, seeming eager for praise. The core nodded. "Sonic, that is amazing. You should decorate the rest of the place. I'll help." Sonic tossed the core one end of a string of lights.

Now GLaDOS was really annoyed. "Wheatley, why are you helping him ruin my chamber?" This would be the first time she said his name, and also the last. Confused, Wheatley replied, "It's for Christmas. Our son wants to decorate your room. Be festive."

"He's not my son. He's just a test subject." She said, turning away from the tree and lights. Wheatley went around the room on his rail, the lights trailing along behind him. "All right, if you want to be that way, **my** son wants to decorate your room."

He stopped when he had gone in a complete circle, Sonic tying off his end of the lights and plugging them in. Christmas colors lit up the room, reflecting off the bright white of the tree. "Now we need some gifts for eachother. I already got you guys something."

The hedgehog sped off out the room and down the hall, leaving a strong wind behind him. Proud of his speed, Sonic used it a lot. In less than a minute he came back into the room wearing a Santa hat and placed two wrapped gifts under the turret-tree.

GLaDOS' emotions switched from irritated to confused. Wheatley went to the end of his rail and looked down at Sonic and the gifts. "Oh, what's that in the boxes?" Sonic ripped the wrapping paper off one of the boxes and held up the gift inside.

It was a sci-fi book with illustrations. "Dad, this is for you. I thought the pictures would help you understand the story. And I'll read it to you if you want." He had written the book himself and was rather proud of the story.

"Oh, thank you! I love it!" Wheatley smiled at the hedgehog, extremely grateful for the gift. The reason sonic had chosen a book with pictures was because of a well-known fact: Wheatley couldn't read.

Sonic unwrapped the next gift and held it up for GLaDOS to see. "Mom, this is for you." It was a clay sculpture that looked like a lemon on fire. GLaDOS seemed a bit confused, but at the same time glad. She didn't know what to say. He had just given her a sculpture of a combustible lemon. Why did that seem familiar?

Sonic smiled and looked at Wheatley and GLaDOS. "Merry Christmas mom and dad!"


	13. Painful Memories

"I've been thinking." Everyone stopped when Cave's voice came over the speakers again. The closer to the current Aperture we got, the worse Cave's condition became. I knew he was already dead, but it felt horrible having to hear him as if he was still alive, coughing while speaking and asking for pain meds.

And every time Caroline spoke I froze in my tracks. I couldn't help it. Tails had to drag me along once because I hadn't moved. Chell looked around the room, then up at the speakers before walking into a corner and staying there. I could see a tear run down her cheek. I'm guessing she was like me when it came to the voices. I froze at Caroline's, she cried at Cave's.

"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade! Make life take the lemons back!" Over in the corner I saw Chell smile a bit. Heck, Cave was making me smile too. Even in his dying days, he wasn't gonna let life get the better of him. Tails looked up at the speaker. I was behind him, so I couldn't see his expression. Dad was confused.

"Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!"

Cave finally quieted down and began talking like normal, but the speech had done its job. Tails was stunned speechless. He was staring at the intercom and opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, but no sound came out. Wheatley was also staring at the speaker, but he was going through every expression he could, not saying a word.

As for me, that's my family for you. We're an odd bunch, and that rant wasn't completely unexpected. It still fazed me a bit though. I turned to look at Chell in the corner and heard her speak a full sentence for the first time since I'd met her. "Burning people. He said what we're all thinking."

This freaked me out. "Nobody is thinking of burning people, Chell." Tails' gaze shifted to her and he gave her the 'are you insane?' look. As an explanation, she got up and went through several of the nearby desks. We were in an employee area, and apparently she was looking for something.

It took about ten minutes, but she was successful. She pulled an envelope and an object out of a desk. The envelope had a photo in it of a science project for Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. The object turned out to be a potato. How that thing wasn't rotten by now nobody knew.

She shoved the potato on one of the prongs of the portal gun and turned to Wheatley, repeating the line to him. Tails and I still didn't know what she meant, but dad did. He rattled off, "I'm sorry! I already apologized! I thought you accepted my apology! It wasn't my fault!"

Chell facepalmed. So she hadn't wanted that reaction from dad after all. "Explain. Them." She gestured to me and Tails. Dad seemed to understand correctly this time, as his tone was less depressed. "The potato is supposed to be the potato battery I shoved Her in. Chell is trying to show you who said the line about burning things. She was just repeating it."

So many people thought dad was a moron, but he could be quite smart if he tried. So mom as a potato battery had come down here with Chell. I explained this to Tails and we continued walking. We had a problem getting up the defunct elevator shaft.

The lights had been working for Chell, but they finally gave out when we stepped in. Nobody could see anything until Wheatley turned his flashlight on and floated above us. Even then it was hard. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I do remember a lot of dialogue. It went something like this:

"Momentum! Try the blue!" "But the blue will just throw her at the wall. She has to put an orange there." "Right, sorry. Use the orange!" "Dad! Move the light to the left!" "What do you think I'm doing? I can't see where I'm go-ow! Sorry!" "Don't shake the light!" **SMACK.** "Chell? You all right?"

We did get through though. Dad flew to the top and lit the shaft. I took the portal gun, shot a blue next to Chell and an orange at the top after Tails flew me up. Chell followed through the portals. It was still a lot of walking to get out, but we did. After a long time, we did.

I knew because I saw a familiar door and emancipation grill at the end of the hallway. Excited, I ran ahead, everyone else following. "Finally! A few more chambers and we should reach GLaDOS' room!" Amy, Shadow and Rouge were still there. I hoped they were okay.

We went down a catwalk and used a portal to enter a test chamber. This one was a lot newer than mom's usual ones. And easier. It was like the first chamber in the original test track. A cube on a button and the door opens. That was all there was to it.

The strangest things were the cubes and the monitor. Mom used security cameras, not monitors. On the wall to the right was a giant rectangular black monitor. The cubes weren't normal cubes either. There was a fusion of a cube and two turrets. If they were stood upright and not dead, they would be able to walk. The second dad saw these he shut down and fell.


	14. Realization and Running Away

Could this day get any worse? "Tails, see if you can make the monitor repeat the last thing it showed. I wanna know if a hidden signal from it shut Wheatley down." I knelt down and rolled the core over, trying to figure out what had caused him to drop like that. "Come on dad, wake up. Am I gonna have to save you again?"

Chell gave me a really odd look when I said dad. Why I had I let that slip? "Long story." Wait, now she was smiling at me, like she knew what I meant. Then she began softly singing. So talking was a bit of a problem for her, but she could sing just fine.

"La mia bambina cara. Perché non passi lontana? Sì, lontana da Scienza." She sang, staring up at the ceiling. Those words weren't English though. Wait, cores had translation software in case the person they spoke to didn't know English.

I pulled on the plug on dad's back, which opened him up so I could mess with his electronics. I got him started up again and told him what Chell had said. "Run the translation." He didn't seem to want to. He seemed worried about the room we were in. "We'll get out soon. Please tell me what it means."

He sighed (no idea how since he doesn't breathe), and replied, "My dear child. Why don't you walk far away? Far away from science." He glanced at Tails, as if paranoid that the monitor was going to start up. I wasn't sure why.

I was more focused on Chell's song. "Chell, where did you learn that?" She looked down at me and spoke one word. "GLaDOS." Mom had sung that to her? What had the lyrics said? My dear child? Why would she… no, I knew. GLaDOS had once been a human. "Was your mother's name Caroline?"

I knew that look. I had given it to my friends for years. It was the 'I don't remember' look. Even if she didn't remember, I knew. Wheatley was my father. GLaDOS was my mother. For ten years my only family was robots. Then I met Tails. Now I have a little brother. A normal family member.

But now I didn't just have a little brother. I had an older sister. Chell and I shared a mother. She just didn't know. Crap, how was I supposed to tell her that she had a hedgehog for a little brother? "You know, I called Wheatley dad because he raised me. Technically GLaDOS is my mom."

Her eyes widened, I think in recognition. "Yeah." I looked down at dad, then up at Chell. "You know Caroline's story. If GLaDOS gave you that song…" She looked like she was about to reply when Tails shouted, "Got it!"

The monitor started up and replayed the last thing it had shown. As it turns out, it was something I did _not_ want to see. Wheatley hid behind me repeating, "Turn it off. Turn it off. Turn it off." Over and over again.

Chell glared at the image on the screen. It was Wheatley, attached to GLaDOS' body. Then the recording spoke. "Aha! Yes, I knew you'd solve it! Oh, hello." He was talking to someone who wasn't there anymore since it was just a recording.

I remembered what dad had said to me before. The recording was probably talking to Chell. I heard dad's voice get louder as he kept telling me to turn it off. "Tails, shut it down. We know what it was now." My little brother nodded and shut off the monitor, heading back over to us.

"Why was Wheatley on the monitor?" he asked. Chell looked from the monitor to dad. I couldn't tell what her expression was. "Doesn't matter." I told Tails, making sure dad's boosters were still functioning. "We need to get to GLaDOS' chamber. Chell, you went through this chamber before. How far are we?"

She didn't respond by telling us how many chambers to go. She responded with, "Trick faith plate. Mashy spike plates." I raised an eyeridge, not sure what she meant. Again, dad started panicking. "N-no, we can take another way. A walkway under the chambers goes around that spot. I'm really, really, really, sorry."

Chell rolled her eyes. "Forgave. Go." She pointed to the chamber's exit. I got dad floating again and said, "Lead the way." He went ahead while the rest of us followed. Aperture may have been where I was raised, but I didn't consider it home. It brought back too many memories.

The one that came to the surface of my mind was the day I escaped.

"_I just want a break. Is that too much to ask for?" I asked as I slumped against the wall, dropping the portal gun. This was my third testing track of the day. I was in chamber 19 of this one and I was tired. I heard mom's voice come over the speakers. "Yes it is too much. All test subjects will finish their courses before they may retire to their relaxation vault."_

_I sighed and got back up, grabbing the portal gun. GLaDOS was a very strict parent. I preferred Wheatley. He was fun to be around. She wasn't. I shot my portals accordingly and made my way through the chamber. The moving platform I was on reached a corner with a cake symbol on the wall._

_I was excited. Finally, I would get some cake and be done for the day. When the platform rounded the corner though, there were flames. An entire room of fire. I freaked out and shouted at the ceiling, "Mom! Turn the fire off!"_

_When she didn't respond I took matters into my own hands. I looked around for a solution and found that I could shoot a portal on the balcony above, but the other portal would be in the wall. I might fall into the fire on the way in._

_So instead I leapt for the wall and ran along it as fast as I could. I was moving too fast for gravity to affect me and I made it to the balcony. Once I landed safely I looked down and saw the flames die down. "Oh some parent you are. I could've died."_

_Her voice seemed to come from everywhere in the room as she replied, "All part of the test. Now that you have completed the test, please assume the party escort submission position." The what? I knew mom had snapped and gone crazy, but this was too much._

_She had tried to kill me. I was her son and she had tried to kill me. I lost all respect for her then and there. I kept a tight grip on the portal gun, used momentum to sling myself across the room, and made my way to her chamber. I was more than angry and I was going to have a chat with her._

_It took me many hours, but eventually I made it. I glared at her as she hung from the ceiling, not doing anything. "Do you know what you've put me through lately? You're crazy! I thought you cared for me! I did every test you asked without question and this is what I get? Attempted murder?"_

_From the corner of my eye I could see dad enter the room. He seemed confused, but he didn't say anything. I continued ranting at mom until she cut me off. She did so by turning on the neurotoxin. Startled, I ran for the elevator that was in the room. If I could shut the door in time…_

_As I ran I saw dad zoom across his rail ahead of me. The elevator wasn't just a way to live, it was my way out. They were programmed to rise when someone stepped into them. I ran into it and shut the door, stopping the neurotoxin from reaching me._

_Dad smiled at me, telling me to go. To get out while I could. I wanted to leave, yes, but my heart hurt when I realized he would still be here. Maybe I could open the door and disengage him as the lift rose? I would risk choking to death on deadly gas, but he was worth it. _

_I tugged on the door, but it wouldn't open. I banged on it and told Wheatley what I was trying to do. His response was simply, "I love you! Take care of yourself!" When he said that I noticed that my lift was halfway into the ceiling. It was too late for me to grab him, even if the door opened right that second._

_Tears in my eyes, I looked down at him and screamed, "I'll come back for you! I promise!"_


	15. Unexpected Results

As we walked down the catwalk, our footsteps creating eerie echoes, I glanced back at Tails. He was the reason I never came back. This place caused nothing but suffering and I swore to myself I would never bring Tails here.

And yet life is never predictable. But that's why I love it. Life might not be predictable, but it's amazing at every turn. All of a sudden a rumbling made the entire catwalk shake. I pulled Tails down as if it were an earthquake drill. Wheatley cut his jets and hit the metal floor but Chell just brandished the portal gun like a weapon, surveying the area. Apparently she doesn't panic easily. Or she's used to massive buildings shaking.

A few panels fell from somewhere high overhead and just missed us by several inches. One of them landed behind us on the catwalk. It had writing on it. A poem of some kind, next to a drawing of a Companion Cube with wings and a halo.

It was odd but I would deal with it later. My concern right now was why the facility was shaking so much. "Reactor core meltdown?" Chell asked. Dad responded with, "Uh, no. Pretty sure She fixed that. God knows I never figured it out."

Tails' eyes widened in fear. "Reactor core? Those can cause huge explosions if they're not dealt with!" Dad rolled his optic in annoyance. "Yes, we know. Can we please talk about something else?" Chell gave him a light tap with the portal gun, like a parent kindly scolding a child. "Have to find the source."

She had a good point, but it was impossible to find the source of the shaking if it didn't stop shaking. Paradoxes. Gotta love them. The familiar crackle of the intercom started right when the shaking stopped. I expected GLaDOS to say something but it wasn't her. It was a voice I had grown to recognize over the years. A deep male one with a very slight British accent on certain words.

"This is Shadow. I'm going to assume the communications here reach everywhere in the facility. You've been gone several hours, Sonic. Rouge and I have managed to hack into the central AI unit. Amy's still alive. Get your spiny ass back up here before I have to go find you."

The intercom clicked off again and sarcastic words made their way out of my mouth. "Well, he's pleasant as always." Tails laughed at what I said, but Wheatley just looked confused. I helped Tails up and sped off down the hallway, grinning.

I don't know what it is, but Shadow makes me smile. I mentioned earlier I have two sides to my personality. His little speech pulled me back to the side I prefer. It was hero time. "Come on guys, hurry up!"

The catwalk turned into a spiral staircase, so I sped up it and waited at the top. Once everyone had caught up to me I sped off again. I reached GLaDOS' room in a matter of seconds, but I had to wait for the others.

Shadow greeted me with that smug look on his face. "Took you long enough, Faker. And you managed to bring the others." I shrugged and replied, "They're family. I wouldn't leave them down there. Now tell me what you need."

Amy practically tackled me with a hug while Rouge explained the situation. "We've tried every password we can think of. Nothing works. We can see the files but we can't open them. I'm tempted to contact GUN." I gently pushed Amy off and one word escaped my mouth. "Caroline."

I don't know how I knew that. It's really weird when you just know something for no reason. GLaDOS might've given me that knowledge when she created me, but I doubt she would want me to know the master password. Then again, she had somehow given me chaos powers without knowing it. It didn't surprise me in the slightest.

"It works." Chell said from the console. She had walked over and typed it in, all the locked files opening and pictures covering the screen. Everyone crowded around the console and began reading off blueprint tiles. Chell backed away shaking her head. "Why? She only wanted testing."

"It's Eggman's fault. He found out about this place somehow and asked her for robots." Tails said, looking curiously at the blueprints. "The question is, how? How did he find Aperture?" The room was silent. Nobody had an answer.

I squeezed my way through the group to get a good look at the console. Most of the blueprints looked like the Party Escort Bot with Eggman-style weapons. I downloaded the files to the USB stick Rouge had plugged in and tossed it to her. "Let's have a chat with Egg-head, shall we?"

I headed for the exit, but was stopped by a hand on my shoulder. The glove cuff looked like Tails'. "What's up little bro?" He pointed at GLaDOS and asked quietly, "Are we gonna leave her like that?"

We could easily leave her shut down but I wasn't sure if we should. I looked to Chell for advice. She had a faraway look in her eyes. "Ruins without her." She muttered. She was right, Aperture needed GLaDOS to function. That was probably what caused the shaking. Shadow and Rouge shutting her down. "No Tails, we'll turn her back on."

Everyone besides Tails headed for the elevator. My little brother asked me if I needed his help powering on GLaDOS. I told him yes since I had no clue how to do it. I followed him over to the console and he began doing the techy stuff he was so good at.

He paused a few minutes in to ask me a question. "Can you hand me a chaos emerald and the portal gun?" I raised an eyeridge at this. "Uh, why do you need those?" GLaDOS twitched slightly and he backed away from the console. "She's on. I wanted those because I want to try something on the way to Eggman." He told me as we went to the elevator with everyone else and made it rise. "I was thinking we could supercharge the portal gun so it can work on any surface."

I told him that was a great idea. As soon as the lift hit the surface and the door opened I realized just how long we had been inside. It was night. The stars were shining and the moon was casting light over the wheat field. Well, half the moon. The other half was forever gone.

Shadow pointed off in the distance, "The Doctor's base is this way." and skated off with Rouge. The rest of us followed once Chell had given Tails the portal gun to tinker with as we went. I ran ahead but I knew Tails, Wheatley and Chell would catch up.

I matched pace with Shadow and we arrived at Eggman's base in no time, Shadow chaos blasting the door down. I decided to interrogate him now instead of waiting for the others but that didn't quite work.

Waiting on the other side of the door was a massive robot. One that looked exactly like the one I fought on the Death Egg. Eggman's voice spoke from inside. "Look what I rebuilt Sonic! You like it? Oh, and hello Shadow and Rouge."

It stomped on the floor and Shadow started tossing chaos spears at it while Rouge headed deeper into the base for chaos knows what. I grinned at Shadow and teased, "Hey, don't steal my spotlight!" before attacking the robot. We both were doing rather well as a team when the others finally arrived.

Wheatley hung back, but Tails joined in the fight. I jumped in the air and was about to do a homing attack when I got hit by what felt like a chaos spear, knocking me to the ground. I have excellent reflexes so it must've been homing in on me or something. "Shadow! Watch your aim!"

Shadow blasted robot into the wall and replied angrily, "I was! I never hit you!" I stood up a little shakily when Chell ran up to me and frantically apologized for something. "Sorry! Not used to battles! Accidentally hit you with the portal gun! Sorry!"

I brushed her off, told her it was all right and spindashed the robot's legs. It fell to the ground and Eggman gave a frustrated shout of "Lousy hedgehogs!" Shadow shook his head in dismay. "Doctor, you should know better by now. Please exit the machine. We only wish to speak with you." Eggman didn't exactly climb out of the cockpit. More like he fell on his face.

I cracked up. "Dude! You really suck at this!" I could see Tails giggling and Chell was hiding a snicker behind her hand. Shadow gave him a hand and helped him up. I'm not surprised. They may be enemies but Shadow still considers him family. That's why he's so polite to him.

While Shadow was doing that Tails turned to me and gave me a really confused stare. "Sonic?" I blinked in surprise. "What is it buddy?" He pointed at my face, which made me worry. "Your eyes…" He motioned for Chell to bring the portal gun over and then handed it to me.

The surface was shiny enough to be used as a mirror. I looked at my reflection and was weirded out. My eyes had always been a bright emerald green. But in my reflection one was blue and the other was orange…

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

You can see a wallpaper with Sonic's new eye colors on my Deviantart. Please check my profile for links to the Family Ties fanart. you'll find it there.


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